Friendship
by myth66
Summary: William, a teenage boy who won't join the Army, stays in New York. After meeting a girl because of the War Bond sale shows, it may change his view on a lot. And not just about the War.
1. Hello

**_I had this random idea for a Captain America fanfiction, but it's not about him! Muhahah!_**

**_Anyways, Ilsa is what I nearly got named._**

**_Oh, well. Come from German Stock, you might get a German name._**

**_I do not Support Nazis in any way shape or form._**

**_Except for the Red Skull's car in the movie. That was beautiful._**

* * *

William's POV

_Aw, younger brothers._

_Ya love 'em to bits, but at the same time, make you want to strangle them._

Currently, my ward, also known as James, was dragging me to see 'Captain America' with our parents.

Come on, I'm sixteen. Why am I here, seeing a guy in tights, selling war bonds?

And for the record, folks, the reason I'm not overseas, beating the living hell outta the Axis, is my mother has forbade it.

Believe me, when she says you can't do something, you do _not_ do it.

The bouncing, brown-haired six year-old in front of me said otherwise.

Guess it's true parents are more lenient with the second kid.

I sat down with them, about a third of the way up from the stage, in the middle of the row.

James is _insane_.

Part way into this ridicules little dance show; I looked around to see if I could spot anyone I knew.

I saw a couple giggling girls from my school, a couple rows in front of me, their friends annoyed.

A few guys who should have left for the war by now, to my right.

And a slightly taller-than-average girl from my school who never spoke.

At least, I think she was the same girl.

I went back to watching the performance of strangeness, and couldn't help but look back again.

The chorus girls kept singing some weird song, with a line like; _"Who'll hang a noose on those goose-stepping goons from Berlin?" _

Her upper lip curled at that line, as if she didn't approve.

_Huh. If she supported those whack-jobs, she'd be over there, not here in the good ol' US of A._

_Right?_

Making up my mind to talk to her after the show, I went back to watching in bored amusement.

* * *

I made an excuse about going to see a friend to my parents, while they took little James to go and get the comic book, which was currently clutched tightly in his tiny hands, to be signed.

I looked around wildly for that girl, and finally spotted the hip-length gold hair.

I ran over and tapped her on the shoulder as she made her way to the East, causing her to turn around,

She raised an eyebrow at me.

"Hey, um, we go to the same school, right?" She nodded. "I'm William. You are?"

She shuffled her feet awkwardly, before taking a pen out of her small purse and writing something on her hand, which she showed to me; it read _Ilsa._

"So, um, Ilsa, why don't you talk? Are you mute?"

Another head shake; so she can talk.

"Can you not understand English? Oh, wait, no, ignore that…" She understood me perfectly well, plus she attends an English-speaking school.

She shuffled again, and motioned for me to follow her a short ways into a side ally.

"It's mein accent. Zat's vhy I don't talk." A think German accent tumbled from her mouth.

Wait, _German?_ What was she doing over here?!

A look of mild shock crossed my face. "What… why…" I started and Ilsa shrugged.

"Mein bruder, he sent me he before ze var started. He had a bad feeling about Hitler, und he vas right."

She sighed.

"So, your brother… He's fighting in the war?" I asked.

She paused, before responding. "_Ja_, he iz. But vhat he's doing, I don't like."

Upon my curious look, she shifted her weight nervously again.

I rested a hand on her shoulder and one over my heart.

"You can trust me, promise."

"He vorks in zhe concentration camps. He hates it too. He has to operate ze chambers. Ze screams, zhey must be very disturbing."

_Oh my god…_


	2. School

_**A/N: Sorry for short chapters! But ENJOY!**_

_**Reviews are welcome. I want to know what you think! **_

_**...**_

_**Just saying.**_

* * *

At school the next day, I say her looking extremely sad during lunch, sitting under a tree away from everyone.

I slid next to her on the bench.

"Hey, Ilsa, you okay? You look sad."

She fished a paper out of her pocket and held it out for me to read.

I looked at the writing scrawled on it and couldn't make it out, at all.

"Um, I can't exactly read it…"

She withdrew the paper quickly.

"_Ja,_ I'm sorry. You can't read German… It's not only mein Bruder fighting now. Mein friends und ze rest of mein family are too."

"How many people?"

"One iz part of ze Wafen SS now. Another two are Soldats. Mutti iz a nurse, Vater iz a Soldat too." She placed her head in her hands, shaking. "Zhey don't vant to serve! But zhey have to!"

"They… Have to? Seriously?" I was shocked; in the US, its voluntary.

"_Ja_, zhey have to. Kill or be killed, I guess… Und not by ze Allies. By zhere own country."

"That's barbaric! Is that why you didn't like the song in the War Bonds sale?"

She nodded solemnly. "No one understands zat not all of zhem are doings zhis because zhey vant to. I don't vant mein family to die!"

Tears started to fall from her eyes, dropping on to the paper held tightly in one hand.

"Hey. Hey, head up." She looked up at me, tears rolling down her face.

"It'll be all right." Suddenly, I had an idea that might cheer her up. "Hey, after school, do you want to hang out? Like, go get an ice cream or something?"

She looked up, the tears slowing to a stop. "Iz zhis vhat Americans call a 'date'?"

I shrugged. "Who knows?" She gave a tiny laugh, showing me not all hope was lost.

"HEY! Hey, Will!" One of my friends, David, strode towards us, along with Charles and Danny.

"We were going to go see a movie then head to a dance with some of the girls after school. You in?"

I looked over at Ilsa, then back to my friends. "You know what… Nah, I already said I hand out with her after school, and I will."

Danny looked over at the girl sitting next to me, her head still hung slightly.

"Who's she? I've never seen her before, is she new?"

"Her name's Ilsa. And, I'm not sure how long she's been here…" I replied, looking at her.

She held up one hand, all fingers splayed.

"So, five years? About?" I asked, and she nodded.

"Why isn't she talking? She a mute or something?" Danny can be slightly rude, on occasion.

Okay, he's rude to anyone he deems he dislikes.

I shook my head. "She doesn't like talking."

"Whatever. Come on guys, we're gonna be late!" The trio ran off, leaving us on the bench.

Ilsa stood, picking up her bag. "Vell, _danke_ for being kind to me. You are ze first to do zat."

"Really?"

"_Ja_. Uh, you don't have to take me for ice cream or anyzing. You can be vith your friends."

I shook my head. "Nope. I taking you out for ice cream and that's that."

She nodded slowly. "So, vhere vill I meet you?"

I paused in thought as we walked. "By the front doors of the school, when the bell rings. That good?"

She nodded again. "Guten tag, Vill. I'll see you later."

_So, she's calling me Will too?_

_Huh. Guess it's easier than 'William' with her accent._


	3. Ice Cream

I waited outside the doors to the school, for almost ten minutes after the bell.

_Where was she?_

I finally spotted her, walked out, her books in a small satchel slug over her shoulder and hands by her sides.

"There you are! Come on, let's go!" I gave a gentle tug on her wrist, and she trudged alongside me, as I made my way to an ice cream stand near a local park.

After paying for two cones, one chocolate, one vanilla, we made our way to a bench to sit down.

If this doesn't help cheer her up, who knows what else might.

"Zank you, Vill. I don't get ice cream often."

I arched an eyebrow. "How come?"

"Vell, ze people who took me in, vhile I'm here, vere told zat I'm an exchange student. But zhey soon found out I vasn't. Zhey veren't very happy, und zhey really don't like me."

"Well, that's mean. Did you tell them about your brother and everything?"

"_Nein_. Zhey don't care, und zhey never speak to me, except for blaming somezing on me, zat I never did. Zhey vould kick me out, but because zh orphanage is paying zhem, zhey havf to."

"That's just… well, rude. And mean." I needed to change the subject. "So, um… What's your brother like?"

"Hans? Vell, he's really nice, to say zhe least. He iz ze kind of bruder zat people vant. He vill always support you und puts anyone before himself. Vhen I vas little, about _sieben_, he vould take me to a small ice cream parlour, und he alvays bought me chocolate." She sighed, looking at locket she brought out from under her shirt.

There were two photos inside; small, black-and-white photos.

One was of two adults, each in their thirties, and a tall boy, about eighteen.

The other was three guys and two girls, other than Ilsa.

"Zese vere taken just before I left. Zat's mein family, and ze boys over here are mein friends."

"I'm so vorried now, zat none of mein family, or friends, vill make it home. If ze Allies vin, und zhey probably vill, zhey might be put in to a jail, or killed during ze var."

"You know, now I'm kind of hoping that too. Before, whenever I heard something about those Nazis, I thought that all of them were evil. But I was wrong. Everyone's wrong. What else are we wrong about?"

She looked up from trying to keep the ice cream cone from dripping. A slight smile formed on her face.

"Zat ze Goose Step iz an eazy march. It iz not."

"Seriously? It looks easy. Can't be that hard."

She nodded. "Vhen you are doing it on your own, it iz. But vhen it iz a large group of people marching, it iz very hard. If one person is out of step, it could cause some chaos. If ve veren't in such a public area, I vould try und show you."

"Well, I'm going to have to take you up on that. I'm curious now. Anything else we're wrong on?"

"_Ja._ But I do not feel like talking about it, in a place like zhis." She shook her head slightly, smiling a little. "Too many people. Zhey may zink ve are spies or somezhing of ze sorts."

We both laughed a little at that idea.

"So, how do you like America, apart from the people you're staying with and all?" I asked, curious.

"Vell… It iz like Germany, vhen it comes to individual people; zhere are nice ones _und_ mean ones. But ze economy iz better, I think. Zhen again, in var, who can tell?"

"True, true."

After finishing the ice cream and a walk around the area, we went our separate ways.

With a lot to think about on what's going on, across the water.


	4. Lashing Out

Days. Weeks.

Time passed, and I could almost always be found with Ilsa, when I wasn't in class or at home.

Letter flew back and forth between her family, friends and her. She kept me up to date on how things were going.

The saddest news was when one of her friends, Johann, was killed in a plane crash.

Danny kept teasing her, saying rude things to try and make her snap back at him.

She kept her mouth shut, never letting anyone but me hear the thick accent.

But everyone has their breaking point. Even Ghandi would have one.

She did lash back one day. I don't think anyone's going to forget it.

She sat on the bench next to me, quietly eating a sandwich while David, Danny Charles and I talked about the war.

David and Danny both wanted to go over, but were in the same situation as me; Parents wouldn't let them.

However, now, I was in the same location as Charles, in wanting to stay here.

Danny sneered at this. "Why would you stay here, in boring New York, when you could go overseas and bring home glory? I want to go over there, but my stupid mother won't let me." He scoffed. "Those damn krauts, they all deserve to die! Geez, I just want to pound them all down! Stupid, evil, Nazi, kraut scum!"

Ilsa's head shot up.

"Vhat vas zhat?" She asked, glaring daggers at Danny. "You called mein family stupid _und_ **evil**?"

Danny laughed. "Exactly. Looks like we got one of those damn Krauts over here! Looks like I can get my wish after all."

Ilsa stood up, brushing her skirts off, before slamming Danny against a tree by his shirt collar.

"You don't know vhat zhey have to go through. Ze pain zhey face, vhen zhey have to kill innocent people! Zhey're _forced_, unlike you, you stupid Yankee!" She growled in face.

"Learn vhat you're talking about before you say somezhing! You say something like zhat back in mein home, at zhis time, you yourself vould have been thrown into a camp! You may be an Aryan, but zhat vouldn't stop zhem from shooting you!"

She let go of his collar, grabbed her books and stalked off.

Danny looked visibly shocked.

I grabbed my bag, and was about to run after her, when Charles caught my arm.

He shook his head. "You don't want to be around her for a long time. Word's going to get out about this, and then anyone who's seen with her, people are going to think you supports the Germans."

I jerked my arm away from him.

"Yeah, well, guess what? Her entire family's fighting, and they don't want to. She's lost people she was close to. Her _brother_, the person she looks up to, is being forced to kill dozens of people a day. So shut up about what others think and consider how you would feel in her shoes!"

I ran off, to go and find Ilsa, to comfort her.

* * *

**_A/N: Oh my god, why did I write this?_**


End file.
